Vertical refiner



June 1967 D. R. DALZELL, JR, ETAL 3,323,732

VERTICAL REFINER Filed Jan. 31, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 AIR FIG]

' INVENTORS DAVID R. DALZELL JR. LOYAL H. HESS ATTORNEYS June 6, 1967 D.R. DALZELL, JR, ETAL 3,3 3,73

VERTICAL REFINER 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 31, 1964 FIG-4 R BJ O I 5TL VI NLS E wa mhm R m m R T L A 3. V O a Y B m,

June 6, 1967 D. R. DALZELL, JR., ETAL 3,

VERTICAL REFINER 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Jan. 31, 1964 b a r n 6 WT 2 6.0 .2 L pl I I. I: p I

H H 5 F WATER PRESSURE 1 INVENTORS DAVID R. DALZELLAR. BY LOYAL H HESSAT TQRNEYS United States Patent 3,323,732 VERTICAL REFENER David R.Dalzeli, Jr., and Loyal H. Hess, Beloit, Wis.,

assignors to Beloit Corporation, Beloit, Wis, a corporation of WisconsinFiled Jan. 31, 1964, Ser. No. 341,578 9 Claims. (Ci. 241162) The presentinvention relates to improvements in paper stock refiners.

More particularly the invention contemplates providing a paper stockrefiner having a vertical drive motor with a refiner rotor driventhereby having upper and lower refining faces, an upper stator above therotor having a lower refining face, a lower movable stator below therotor having an upper refining face, the faces of the rotor and statoradapted to receive stock in the refining spaces between them, means foradjusta'bly supporting the motor armature and refiner rotor with avertical force slightly less than their weight so that the position ofthe rotor will be hydraulically balanced by the pressure of the stock inthe refining spaces, and applying a controllable vertical upward forceto at least the lower stator for determining the width of the refiningspaces. The unit is housed in a compact arrangement with a lower housingpart and an upper housing part arranged so that the refining rotor andstators can be simply and easily removed and interchanged.

An object of the present invention is to provide a refiner which isoperated in a vertical position and which is of improved design andconstruction so as to provide higher horsepower and capacity per unit ofspace.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved verticalrefiner wherein the refining units can be easily disassembled andreplaced in a minium amount of time without effort or large spacerequirements.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improvedvertical refiner for a paper stock refining operation wherein therefining spaces are readily and closely controllable.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improvedrefiner which has upper and lower stator refiner plates and a centralrotor refiner plate with the refining spaces between the plates readilyand automatically controlled so as to be substantially uniform forimproved refining action.

Other objects, advantages and features will become more apparent withthe teaching of the principles of the invention in connection with thedisclosure of the preferred embodiments thereof in the specification,claims and drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a vertical sectional view taken through an improved refinerembodying the principles of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the refiner of FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of the lower portionof the refiner illustrating a modified design;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view of a top portion of a modified form ofrefiner;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary sectional view of a top portion of a refinerof a design slightly modified from the arrangement of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along lineVIVI of FIGURE 5; and

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary plan view of the top portion of a refiner ofmodified design.

As shown on the drawings:

FIGURES 1 and 2 illustrate a refiner having a rotor 10 with upper andlower refining faces. Above the rotor is an upper stator 11 having alower refining face. Below 3,323,732 Patented June 6, 1967 the rotor isa lower stator 12 having an upper refining face. The refining facesbetween the rotor 10 and stators 11 and 12 define refining spaces 13 and14.

The stock in entering the refiner flows into an inlet 15 and radiallyoutwardly through the first refining space 14, into the annular space16, and then radially inwardly through the second refining space 13 tobe discharged through the outlet 17.

The rotor is supported on a shaft means 18 which is shown as the shaftof a vertical drive motor 19.

The motor is enclosed in a lower housing 20 which provides the supportstand for the refiner unit. Above the housing 20 is an upper housing 21which is cast to provide the inlet 15 therein and to provide the chamber16 for the rotor 10 and stators 11 and 12. The chamber 16 is arranged tohave an open top closed by a cap 22 suitably secured to the upperhousing 21 such as by an annular row of bolts, not shown. Thus by simplyremoving the cap 22, full access will be had to the rotor 10 and stators11 and 12 for their removal. Thus when the parts wear, they can beeasily and quickly removed and replaced. The refining spaces 13 and 14are maintained substantially equal by somewhat resiliently supportingthe weight of the motor armature 19, its shaft 18 and the rotor 10. Themotor armature is supported and is freely vertically movable with alower bearing 24 for the shaft 18 slidably mounted in the cylindricalinternal surface of a hub 23 supported on a lower horizontal wall of thehousing 20. The shaft has an upper bearing 19a which is suitably alsosupported in the inner cylindrical wall of a hub 20a supported on ahorizontal wall of a housing 20.

The Weigth of the rotor ltl, shaft 18 and motor 19 are supported by anupward force which is substantially equal to but just less than theircombined weight. For example if the assembled weight of the motor, shaftand rotor is 2000 pounds, an upward force of 1995 pounds is applied. Theupward force applied should be no less than 97% of the total weight.

For applying the upward force an air diaphragm 26 is positioned beneaththe motor shaft to yieldably apply an upward force on a plate 25 beneaththe bearing 24. The diaphragm rests on a support plate 27 mounted ondiametrically spaced bolts 28 and 29 threaded into the supporting hub23. The heads of the bolt support the plate 27. To prevent the motorshaft 18 from moving downardly to where the rotor 10 strikes the lowerstator 12, the downward movement of the shaft is limited by the plate 25engaging lock nuts 30 and 31. These nuts are adjustably fitted on thebolts 28 and 29 and will be positioned so that the rotor 10 is at aposition below its center position, i.e. where the upper refining space13 is larger than the lower refining space 14. Thus when the rotor 10 isstationary and no stock is flowing through the refining spaces 13 and14, the lock nuts 30 and 31 will be supporting only the weight of themotor, shaft and rotor not supported by the diaphragm 26. In the exampleabove given the diaphragm will support 1995 pounds and the stop nutswill support 5 pounds.

During operation the rotor will floatingly operate at a substantiallycentralized position between the stators 11 and 12 so that the refiningspaces 13 and 14 will be substantially equal, and will be maintainedequal by the hydraulic reaction pressure of the stock flowing throughthe refining spaces. As the refining surfaces of the rotor 10 andstators 11 and 12 wear, the refining pressure of the liquid stock in therefining spaces tends to maintain the refining spaces constant due tothe floating feature.

The shaft 18 passes through a seal 32 preventing the stock from leakingdownwardly as it flows in through inlet 15 and flows annularly upwardlyaround the shaft 18 to flow radially outwardly through the firstrefining space 14. For any liquid that leaks downwardly a slinger ring33a is mounted on a shaft to throw liquid outwardly and drain pipes 35bare located here on the periphery of the upper portion 21.

For controlling the'size of the refining gaps 13 and 14, an upward axialpressure is applied to the lower stator 12. This is provided bysupporting the lower stator on an axially moving plate 33 which ismounted in an annular channel in the upper housing part 21.

Below the plate 33 are annular tubes or diaphragms 34 and 35. These aresupplied with a controlled air pressure through a line shownschematically at 35a. As the pressure is increased the refining spaces13 and 14 will be uniformly reduced, and the refining spaces accordinglywill be increased as the pressure in the tubes 34 and 35 is decreased.

To maintain uniform pressure between the outer surfaces of the tubes 34and 35 and the plate 33, and to collapse the tubes when the air pressureis reduced, the plate is drawn downwardly by springs 39 positioned incircular hubs 41 around beneath the plate. The plate has pins 37extending downwardly into the hubs, surrounded by the springs 39, andcollars 38 on the pins are engaged by the springs 39, and the springsare supported on shoulders 40 within the hubs.

Controlled recirculation of a portion of the liquid stock may beobtained by bleeding the recirculated portion out from the chamber 16 toa valve controlled inlet shown somewhat schematically at 44 in FIGURE 2.The recirculated stock flows through a recirculation line 42 to arecirculation outlet 43 leading into the stock inlet 15.

FIGURE 3 illustrates another form of base for the motor housing 20. InFIGURE 3 a motor housing 55 is shown with a motor bearing 56 thereinsupported on rods 57 and 58 which have substantially the same structureas the rods 28 and 29 of FIGURE 1. The motor housing 55 is mounted on anannular flanged base member 59 with an outwardly turned flange forrigidly attaching it to a floor surface.

As will be observed the entire unit is compact and will require aminimum of space for placement in a mill. Access to the unit forchanging the refiner members is easily obtained through the top of theunit by removal of the cap 22. p

FIGURE 4 illustrates a two plate refiner with a single stator 45 and arotor 46. The rotor 46 is supported on a shaft 47 which extendsdownwardly through a shaft seal 48 and the shaft has a slinger ring 49.Stock flows in through an inlet 50 up into the chamber and radiallyinwardly in the refining space between the stator 45 and rotor 46 andout through an outlet 51.

In the arrangement of FIGURES and 6, the annular tubes 34 and 35 ofFIGURE 1 have been replaced by a series of circumferentially spaceddiaphragrns 62. These are each provided with a pressurized air supplyline, not shown. In the structure of FIGURE 5 stock flows through aninlet 15 through spaces defined between the rotor and stators 11' and12, and out through an outlet 17'. The structure is generally similar tothat of FIGURE 1. The diaphragm 62 may be provided with independentsupplies of air pressures so that the accidental rupture of one will notdisrupt operation of the refiner and it can continue operating until themachine can be shut down for repair of the ruptured diaphragm. Similarlywith the arrangement of FIGURE 1 the tubes 34 and 35 may -be providedwith separate pressurized air supply so that the damage to one tube Willnot completely disrupt operation and pressure can be increased in theother tube until a run is finished.

In the arrangement of FIGURE 7 a resilient axial loading force isapplied to both the upper and lower stators for controlling-the refiningspace. The refiner has a rotor 65 with upper and lower refining faces.An upper stator 66 has a lower refining face facing the rotor. A lowerstator 67 has an upper refining face facing the rotor. The

refining space 76 into the chamber 72. The stock then 5 flows radiallyinwardly through the refining space 77,

through an axial outlet 78 and then through an outlet 71 from thehousing. Recirculation can be arranged to direct a portion of the stockfrom the outlet 71 back to the inlet or from the chamber 72 to the inlet70.

The rotor 65 is mounted on a drive shaft 68 and in the present instancethe drive shaft 68 may be stationarily located and the motor does nothave to be resiliently or adjustably supported as with the structure ofFIGURE 1.

Axially outwardly of the stators 66 and 67 are pressure chambers 73 and74 formed in the housing 69. The pressure chambers are sealed from theannular stock chamber 72 by stainless steel flexible disks 75 and 76.

The pressure chambers 73 and 74 are pressurized such as by being filledwith water through a supply line 79 at a controlled pressure. As thepressure is increased or 'de-- creased, the refining spaces 76 and 77will proportionately be increased or decreased. By maintaining thepressure in the chambers 73 and 74 equal, the refining spaces willremain equal. Thus by control of the supply pressure through the line79, the refining spaces can be controlled and the spaces areautomatically maintained equal.

In summary, in the arrangement of FIGURE 1, stock is fed through aninlet 15 to flow upwardly in a refining space 14 and 'to flowradially'inwardly in a refining space 13 through an outlet 17. The rotor10 is balanced by supporting substantially all of the weight of therotor 10,

its shaft 18 and motor 19 by a diaphragm26. The refining spaces areregulated by the pressure supplied to annular tubes 34 and 35.

The drawings and specification present a detailed disclosure of thepreferred embodiments of the invention, and it is to be understood thatthe invention is not limited to the specific forms disclosed, but coversall modifications, changes and alternative constructions and methodsfalling within the scope of the principles taught by the invention.

We claim as our invention:

1. A paper stock refiner comprising,

a refiner rotor having upper and lower refining faces,

an upper stator above the rotor having a lower refining face,

a lower stator below the rotor having an upper refining face,

refining faces of the rotor and stator adapted to receive a liquid stockin the refining spaces between them,

means for driving said rotorin rotation,

and means yieldably supporting said rotor by applying a predeterminedvertical force thereto between said stators for maintaining ahydraulically balanced position from the pressure of the stock in saidrefining spaces.

2. A paper stock refiner comprising,

a vertical drive motor having an armature,

a vertical rotor shaft means on the armature,

a refiner rotor mounted on the shaft means having upper and lowerrefining faces,

a rigidly positioned upper stator above the rotor having a lowerrefining face,

a lower movable stator below the rotor having an upper refining face,

the refining faces of the rotor and stator adapted to receive stock inthe refining spaces between them tflowing from an inlet,

:means for yieldably vertically adjustably positioning the shaft meansand motor armature,

a resilient air chamber means below said lower stator for applying anaxial upwardly directed force to the lower stator,

and means for controlling the pressure in said air chamber forcontrolling the opening width of said refining space.

3. A paper stock refiner in accordance with claim 2 wherein said airchamber is defined by an annular flexible closed tube coaxial with therotor so that the tube expands or contracts with change in pressuretherein for controllin-g the width of the refining space.

4. A paper stock refiner in accordance with claim 2 wherein saidresilient air chamber means includes a plurality of individual resilientair bellows circumferentially spaced so that the pressure in saidbellows controls the Width of said refining spaces.

5. A paper stock refiner comprising,

a vertical drive motor,

a vertical motor shaft means,

a refiner rotor mounted on the shaft means having upper and lowerrefining faces,

an upper stator above the rotor having a lower refining face,

a lower stator below the rotor having an upper refining face with thefaces of the rotor and stator adapted to receive liquid stock in therefining spaces between them,

and means yieldably applying an upwardly directed axial force to saidmotor armature and shaft means and rotor members, and force beingslightly less than the overall weight of said members for floatinglypositioning the rotor between the stators.

6. A paper stock refiner comprising,

a refiner rotor having upper and lower refining faces,

means for driving the rotor in rotation, an upper stator above the rotorhaving a lower refining face,

a lower stator below the rotor havn-g an upper refining face with therefining faces of the rotor and stator adapted to receive liquid stockin the refining spaces between them,

a pressure chamber above said upper stator and a pressure chamber belowsaid lower stator, flexible metal diaphragms attached to said statorsclosing said chambers and floatingly supporting the stators,

and means directing liquid into each of said chambers at substantiallythe same pressure at a controlled pressure for fioatingly supporting thestators.

7. The method of operating a paper stock refiner having a pair ofstators with a rotor therebetween rotatable about a vertical axis whichcomprises yieldably supporting the rotor between the stators andapplying an axially inwardly directed resilient force to one of thestators while rigidly positioning the other stator for obtaining auniform pressure balance in the refining spaces between the rotor andstators and controlling the refining spaces.

8. The method of operating a paper stock refiner having a pair ofstators with a rotor therebetween defining refining spaces between thestators and rotor with the rotor supported on a motor which comprisesyieldably applying a vertical upward force to the motor armature androtor members slightly less than their weight so that the pressure ofthe stock in the refining spaces between the rotor and stator supportsthe remaining weight of the members, and controlling the space of therefining members by applying a yieldable axially inwardly directed forceto at least one of the stators.

9. A paper stock refiner comprising,

a vertical drive motor,

a vertical motor shaft means,

a refiner rotor mounted on the shaft means having upper and lowerrefining faces,

an upper stator above the rotor having a lower refining face and beingfixed in position,

a lower stator below the rotor having an upper refining face with thefaces of the rotor and stator adapted to receive liquid stock in therefining spaces between them,

the lower stator being axially movable relative to the rotor,

means applying a controllably adjustable vertical inwardly directedforce to the movable stator for controlling the width of the refiningspace between the movable statorland rotor,

and means floatingly supporting the rotor to automatically assume aposition between the stators regardless of the position of the lowerstator.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 203,127 4/1878 El-ting 241-268218,884 8/1879 Keith 241-290 1,762,122 6/1930 Marsh 241259 2,344,5043/1944 Dotzer 241146 2,412,677 12/1946 Eppenbach 241259 2,554,888 5/1951Wood 241285 2,852,203 9/1958 Ditting 24l259 3,149,794 9/1964 Irvine24l285 3,161,359 12/1964 Dalzell 241162 X ROBERT C. RIORDON, PrimaryExaminer.

D. KELLY, Assistant Examiner.

1. A PAPER STOCK REFINER COMPRISING, A REFINER ROTOR HAVING UPPER ANDLOWER REFINING FACES, AN UPPER STATOR ABOVE THE ROTOR HAVING A LOWERREFINING FACE, A LOWER STATOR BELOW THE ROTOR HAVING AN UPPER REFININGFACE, REFINING FACES OF THE ROTOR AND STATOR ADAPTED TO RECEIVE A LIQUIDSTOCK IN THE REFINING SPACES BETWEEN THEM, MEANS FOR DRIVING SAID ROTORIN ROTATION, AND MEANS YIELDABLY SUPPORTING SAID ROTOR BY APPLYING A